Christian Blake Proehl (born January 12, 1999) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

. He is also a music recording artist.

Early life

Proehl was born in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

and grew up in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, where he attended Providence High School. As a senior, he caught 52 passes for 1,016 yards and 12 touchdowns and was named first-team All-SoMeck 8 Conference.

College career

Proehl was a member of the

East Carolina Pirates The East Carolina Pirates are the sport, athletic teams that represent East Carolina University (ECU), located in Greenville, North Carolina. All varsity-level sports teams participate at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA ...

for four seasons. He used a medical redshirt as a true freshman after suffering a season-ending injury at the beginning of preseason training camp. As a junior, Proehl caught 47 passes for 577 yards and four touchdowns. After his junior season, Proehl announced that he would forgo his final year at East Carolina to enter the 2021 NFL Draft.

Professional career

Proehl signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

shortly after the conclusion of the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

. He was waived/injured on August 16 and placed on injured reserve. On August 23, 2022, Proehl was placed on the reserve/PUP list to start the season. He was activated on October 17, then waived and re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 16, 2023. He was waived on August 29, 2023.

Music career

While rehabilitating his knee injury in 2021, Proehl rediscovered his love for music and posted a video of himself singing for his Grandma which went viral. In March 2022, he announced his first ever single release titled "Falling Into You," released on March 25, 2022, which was written with a small circle of rising songwriters including Rachel Grae, Spencer Hendricks, Kaitlin Stark, and Austin Zudeck and Justin Thunstrom of Parkwild, who also produced the track. Proehl appeared on the 22nd season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'', and his audition was aired on February 18, 2024, successfully advancing to the Hollywood rounds. He later advanced to the Top 24 on April 1, 2024, performing the song "

Anyone Anyone may refer to: * Anyone (band), a band from Southern California formed in 1995 * "Anyone" (Roxette song), a 1999 song by Roxette * "Anyone" (Demi Lovato song), a 2020 song by Demi Lovato * "Anyone" (Justin Bieber song), a 2021 song by Ju ...

" by

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

. He did not advance to the Top 20.

Personal life

Proehl's father,

Ricky Proehl Richard Scott Proehl (born March 7, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). Proehl played 17 seasons with the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago B ...

, played wide receiver in the NFL for 17 seasons. His brother,

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, played for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

but was released on August 16, 2022.

References

External links

East Carolina Pirates bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proehl, Blake Living people Players of American football from North Carolina American football wide receivers East Carolina Pirates football players Minnesota Vikings players 1999 births American Idol participants